Strawberry Cream Pie and Blueberry Buckle

I don't know about you, but I have not been able to keep track of what day it is all week. I don't know how one extra weekend day has thrown me off so much, but it has. I had three realizations that it was not Monday on Tuesday. Seriously.

I meant to post the photo reveals of the recipes I made for the Fourth of July this morning but I was so tired last night after two hours of playing soccer--keep in mind that I am not in soccer shape and treadmill running has done me no favors--that it took all my energy to ice my re-injured ankle, shovel some soup in my mouth and get in bed. Excuses, I know. Anyways, here they are! Thank you Natalie for your help and your company!

 First up was a Strawberry Cream Pie via Sweet Fine Day. I came across it on my blog reader one day and pinned it for safe keeping. This would be a great dish for a potluck or something to prepare ahead of time; it was pretty easy and has lasted well, I still have a slice in the fridge. Plus it looks so delicious. Buttery graham cracker crumble crust, glistening strawberries and a whopping layer of billowy whipped cream. I think that last piece is about to disappear.

 The only thing I would change if I make this again is I would make more of the graham cracker mixture for the crust, perhaps 1.5 times what the recipe calls for, as I really had to work it around and would have liked to have more around the outside.

Next up, a Blueberry Buckle recipe from Alton Brown via Brooklyn Limestone. I loved all the blueberries in this recipe and I really like the crusty, buttery clusters that formed on top. And it was moist, which is crucial for baked foods in my book.

 I didn't have a square glass baking pan so I used a glass pie pan instead. I've never cooked with cake flour before but after reading up a little (the side panel of the box, anyways) I think that is what made it come out so fluffy.

 Notice the crusty bits around the edges too, yum.

Happy Friday and I hope you have a good weekend too!

Red, White & Blueberry

 Hello! I hope you had a great Fourth of July. I just wanted to share a sneak peak of the recipes I mentioned on Saturday. They turned out to be a great success! I was debating between a few, including a double chocolate cake, but decided to go patriotic with these two. So I guess I will have to wait for the next occasion to make the chocolate cake; or just make one up. Festivus anybody?

Sweet Sunshine

The torrential downpours this past week were so crazy and completely out of character for us here in good old California. If I wanted unpredictable rain during the summer I would move to the East Coast! Which I couldn't. And not because I'm a hater but because I can't handle real weather and I really really like Mexican food. Like a lot. I don't know what I would do with myself all snowed in and burrito-hungry. Disaster!

Oh, wait, I know what I would do. I would move back here and go straight for the carne asada.

Anyways, I'm so glad the weather has changed for the better and we are expecting sunny times on this long Fourth of July weekend! Speaking of sun, here are some pictures from a sunny winter day Stephen and I spent in Sonoma shooting Tannis and his wife Sarah. They were so great! We drove up without a set place in mind and they spent the whole day with us and brought their vintage truck to boot! Are you supposed to call trucks vintage? Cause I just did.

 We both took this one, my arms aren't quite long enough.

And these are some of my favorite photos that Stephen took.

 

Hope you have a great Fourth of July! I have some patriotic recipes in the plans so I will have yumminess to share next week.

Cityscape

Some days I like to take the last couple blocks of my drive home down 43rd really slowly to look at the houses in all their pastel-painted, 70's architecture glory. I pause at the stop signs to look for oncoming traffic and to catch a glimpse of the glittery ocean on my left. There are always people walking, biking or just getting home, like me. Or a train rumbling down Taraval bell ringing noisily, a warning to get out of the way, fast. I notice the phone lines connecting all the houses and how they bend and sway.

This is the view from my driveway. Some people might look at this and think: Isn't there a more aesthetically pleasing way to keep everybody connected? And, I'll admit, I do wonder that too. But I also find it oddly charming. I like watching the angles of the lines relative to each other change from view to view as I roll up and down the hilly street. And I also find it ironic that people in my neighborhood tend to keep to themselves yet all the houses are tied together in such a bold way. Perhaps the lines keep them as connected as they want.

And to those of you that scoffed at the mention that I can actually see the ocean in the Sunset, an area known for its dense and depression-inducing fog [insert Sunset's most over-used line: "It's funny that they call it the Sunset, when you can never actually see the sun set."], I will have you know that most days I can see the ocean on my way home. We moved here in August and winter was pretty mild and mostly clear during the day, so far so good. I do know from my time at SF State, however, that from June until that one groundbreaking week in August where this side of the city turns around and decides to be gorgeous, that my prospects are pretty grim. I will still look over in the hopes that I can sneak a peek of the water through a hole in the fog, anyways. 

Stinkin Rose

I love garlic. I really do. I love the smell of it as it sizzles in a pan of olive oil. And that special something that it brings to so many dishes. I may not love how it sticks all over my fingers when I'm trying to mince it, but it is definitely worth it. I learned the term "stinking rose" when I went the restaurant with its namesake in San Francisco's North Beach when I was younger. I searched wikipedia to see if I could find the origins of the common nickname for the fragrant bulbs closely related to onions; no luck there except a really lovely explanation of the cause of garlic breath and why you end up sweating it out the next day. My repulsion at those facts, however, is greatly outweighed by my love for garlic. So I guess I will continue to subject myself and others to my garlic breath. 

Oh, well.

So I Started a Blog, Now What?

Hi all (grandma). I just wanted to make a quick post to say that I am still here. I am, however, feeling slightly stuck. Have you ever had the feeling like you really really wanted to do something creative and then you get your materials together only to sit down and realize you have no idea what you want to do? And then you are sitting there with all your paints and brushes and a big blank piece of paper and you have no idea when something is going to come to you. But you know you want to paint and you know that as soon as that idea hits you over the head you will come up with something great. And until then you are just staring at the blank canvas with enough intensity to burn a hole in it. That's kind of how I'm feeling about this blog.
I have been waiting for months to start blogging and I finally decided to wing it and figure it out as I go thinking that once I sat down to make posts ideas would come. But, as with any other time I decide to be spontaneous, now that I have started I'm totally freaked out. Where I am going with is this? I am doing this right? Did other people feel this way when they were starting out? I feel strangely obligated to come out of the gate a great blogger with interesting things to say every day and the perfect pictures to go with each theme. I know this is unrealistic, but it's hard to shake. I can't stand not knowing where I'm going to end up or waiting to get there. To make a long story short: I am very impatient. Most people who know me know this as a fact. Why else would I burn my tongue every single time I eat or drink something hot? Yes, I am a spaz, but that's not the answer I was looking for. And no, not because I'm a pig, either.
Between the amount of time I spend reading blogs and thinking about what draws me to certain blogs over others, I felt like I had a pretty good grip on what I wanted to bring to my own blog. But put on the spot, I must say it's overwhelming. Last week, this post from Jess Constable at Makeunder My Life came up on my blog reader and made me feel a little less obsessive, or at least less alone in my obsessive tendencies.
All of this to say, I am still here. I am still figuring this out. I am still trying.

Dresser Redeux

This was a thrift store dresser that my mom picked up who knows where that she painted for me one year for my birthday. Five or so years later, said dresser was looking pretty hurt. Chipped paint, injured hinges and a couple drawers that I was convinced would decide one morning to hold my clothes hostage and quit life. Not ideal.

I knew I wanted something on the modern side since all the other pieces in my new shared bedroom were older and it was feeling a little dowdy. But I also wanted something that would have some character and make sense with my large lime green mirror, below, which was another hand-painted gift from my mom. Maybe mix and match some fun hardware? Then one day rummaging archives on Decor8 I saw this dresser featured in an interview with research scientist Morgane Rouault who lives in Berlin. I loved it! Did she read my future mind?

I picked up the Malm six-drawer chest from Ikea (the one Morgane used was more than I wanted to spend for a generic dresser) in white and ordered various knobs and pulls from Anthropologie. Maybe not the most original moment of my life, but I really dug this woman's setup and I wanted my own version.  I asked Stephen's dad to drill the holes for the knobs and he gladly accepted. And blam!

I think this is my favorite spot in our apartment that is all mine. All my favorite jewelry, some pictures, random glassware and a golden chihuahua, what more could a girl want?

I already had a makeup mirror, a milk glass dish for my earrings and a really awesome golden chihuahua named Caesar, so I picked up some random clear glassware from Goodwill for a dollar or less each (don't you love it when you accidentally end up at goodwill on a sale day!?) to arrange even more jewelry. I found the framed Italian postcard and German perfume bottles when I unpacked some boxes as my dads house.

Do you want a back story on the chihuahua? It's not very long: I was in my friend's car driving down La Brae during a visit to L.A. and I saw a man standing on the corner selling very random ceramic items. Then there, amongst four boring, white chihuahuas was a golden one. I told my friend to pull over. She said no. I said yes. She said really? I said YES! It was love at first sight. Don't you just love a good love story?

I really like this Italian post card that I bought at a stationary store in Florence because it means "The pleasure of traveling" and it makes me look forward to future trips.